Student Definitions of Intercultural Competence (IC)- Are They Context-Specific?
Nadine Binder
,
Ozen Odag
,
Anne Leiser
,
Lisa Ludders
,
Karina K. Kedzior
Higher education institutions increasingly seek to promote students’ intercultural competence (IC), yet its conceptualization remains a challeng.
- Pub. date: April 15, 2018
- Pages: 251-265
- 934 Downloads
- 1560 Views
- 2 Citations
Higher education institutions increasingly seek to promote students’ intercultural competence (IC), yet its conceptualization remains a challenge. The first aim of this study was to explore how a purposive sample of n=77 domestic, undergraduate students at a public university in Germany define IC. The second aim was to assess to what extent such definitions are context-dependent by comparing IC definitions provided by domestic students (with predominantly German nationality and little international experience/exposure) with those provided by n=130 international, undergraduate students at a private university in Germany (with predominantly non-German nationality and more extensive international experience/exposure). A qualitative content analysis showed that domestic students defined IC mostly in terms of attitudes followed by external outcomes while the opposite was true for the international students. Differences in IC definitions between the two samples are discussed with regard to various contextual factors. Our results suggest that such contextual factors should be considered when designing measures to promote IC development in university students.
intercultural competence ic international education multicultural education higher education qualitative content analysis
Keywords: Intercultural competence (IC), international education, multicultural education, higher education, qualitative content analysis
References
Arasaratnam, L. A., & Doerfel, M. L. (2005). Intercultural communication competence: Identifying key components from multicultural perspectives. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(2), 137–163. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2004.04.001
Bennett, R. J., Volet, S. E., & Fozdar, F. E. (2013). “I’d say it’s kind of unique in a way”: The development of an intercultural student relationship. Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(5), 533–553. http://doi.org/10.1177/1028315312474937
Binder, N., Schreier, M., Kuhnen, U., & Kedzior, K. K. (2013). Integrating international students into tertiary education using intercultural peer-to-peer training at Jacobs University Bremen, Germany. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 1(2), 273–285.
Bolten, J. (2007). Was heißt „Interkulturelle Kompetenz?“ Perspektiven fur die internationale Personalentwicklung [What does ‘intercultural competence’ mean? Perspectives on international human resource development]. In V. Kunzer & J. Berninghausen (Eds.), Wirtschaft als interkulturelle Herausforderung [Economy as an Intercultural Challenge] (pp. 21–42). Berlin, Germany: IKO-Verlag Berlin.
Bosse, E. (2010). Interkulturelle Qualifizierungsangebote fur Studierende: mehrstufig, studienbegleitend und nachhaltig [Intercultural qualification offers for students: Multilevel, study-related and sustainable]. In O. Eß (Ed.), Das Andere Lehren. Handbuch zur Lehre Interkultureller Handlungskompetenz [Teaching the Other: Handbook on Teaching Intercultural Competence] (pp. 35–47). Munster, Germany: Waxmann.
Campbell, N. (2012). Promoting intercultural contact on campus: A project to connect and engage international and host students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 16(3), 205–227. http://doi.org/10.1177/1028315311403936
Chen, G.-M., & An, R. (2009). A Chinese model of intercultural leadership competence. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 196–207). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.
Covert, H. H. (2011). Undergraduate students’ perceptions of developing intercultural competence during a semester abroad in Chile. PhD Thesis, University of Florida, USA.
Deardorff, D. K. (2006). Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10(3), 241–266.
Deardorff, D. K. (2009). Synthesizing conceptualizations of intercultural competence: A summary and emerging themes. In D. K. Deardorf (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 264–269). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.
Erll, A., & Gymnich, M. (2015). Interkulturelle Kompetenzen- Erfolgreich kommunizieren zwischen den Kulturen [Intercultural Competencies- Successfully Communicating Across Cultures] (3rd ed.). Stuttgart, Germany: Klett.
Graf, A. (2004). Assessing intercultural training designs. Journal of European Industrial Training, 28(2/3/4), 199–214.
Halualani, R. T. (2008). How do multicultural university students define and make sense of intercultural contact? A qualitative study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 32(1), 1–16.
Harrison, N., & Peacock, N. (2009). Cultural distance, mindfulness and passive xenophobia: Using Integrated Threat Theory to explore home higher education students’ perspectives on “internationalisation at home.” British Educational Research Journal, 36(6), 877–902.
Hiller, G. G. (2010). Einleitung Uberlegungen zum interkulturellen Kompetenzerwerb an deutschen Hochschulen [Introduction: Considerations regarding intercultural competence development at universities in Germany]. In G. G. Hiller & S. Vogler-Lipp (Eds.), Schlusselqualifikation Interkulturelle Kompetenz an Hochschulen [Key Qualification Intercultural Competence at Universities] (pp. 19–31). Wiesbaden, Germany: VS Verlag fur Wissenschaften.
Holmes, P. (2008). Foregrounding harmony: Chinese international students’ voices in communication with their New Zealand peers. China Media Research, 4(4), 102–110.
Ippolito, K. (2007). Promoting intercultural learning in a multicultural university: ideals and realities. Teaching in Higher Education, 12(5–6), 749–763.
Kedzior, K. K., Rohrs, W., Kuhnen, U., Odag, O., Haber, F., & Boehnke, K. (2015). Evaluation of an intercultural peer training for incoming undergraduate students at an international university in Germany. SAGE Open, 5(3), http://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015606193.
Krajewski, S. (2011). The Next Buddha May Be a Community: Practicing Intercultural Competence at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars.
Leask, B. (2009). Using formal and informal curricula to improve interactions between home and international students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 13(2), 205–221. http://doi.org/10.1177/1028315308329786
Luo, X. (2013). Guanxi competence as intercultural competence in business contexts- A Chinese perspective. Interculture Journal, 12(20), 69–89.
Manian, R., & Naidu, S. (2009). India: A cross-cultural overview of intercultural competence. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 233–247). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.
Medina-López-Portillo, A., & Sinnigen, J. H. (2009). Interculturality versus intercultural competencies in Latin America. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 249–263). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.
Moosmuller, A., & Schonhuth, M. (2009). Intercultural competence in German discourse. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 209–232). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.
Nwosu, P. O. (2009). Understanding Africans’ conceptualizations of intercultural competence. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 158–178). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.
Odag, O., Wallin, H. R., & Kedzior, K. K. (2015). Definition of intercultural competence according to undergraduate students at an international university in Germany. Journal of Studies in International Education, 20(2), 118-139.
Otten, M. (2003). Intercultural learning and diversity in higher education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 7(1), 12–26.
Rathje, S. (2006). Interkulturelle Kompetenz- Zustand und Zukunft eines umstrittenen Konzepts [Intercultural competence- Status and future of a controversial concept]. Zeitschrift Fur Interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht [Journal of Intercultural Foreign Language Teaching], 11(3), 15–36.
Root, E., & Ngampornchai, A. (2013). “I came back as a new human being”: Student descriptions of intercultural competence acquired through education abroad experiences. Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(5), 513–532. http://doi.org/10.1177/1028315312468008
Schaetti, B. F., Ramsey, S. J., & Watanabe, G. C. (2009). From intercultural knowledge to intercultural competence: Developing an intercultural practice. In M. A. Moodian (Ed.), Contemporary Leadership and Intercultural Competence: Understanding and Utilizing Cultural Diversity to Build Successful Organizations (pp. 125–138). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.
Schreier, M. (2012). Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice. Croydon, UK: SAGE.
Schumann, A. (2012). Interkulturelle Kommunikation in der Hochschule: Zur Integration internationaler Studierender und Forderung Interkultureller Kompetenz [Intercultural Communication at Universities: On the Integration of International Students and Promotion of Intercultural Competence]. Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript Verlag.
Spitzberg, B. H. (1989). Issues in the development of a theory of interpersonal competence in the intercultural context. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 13(3), 241–268.
Spitzberg, B. H., & Changnon, G. (2009). Conceptualizing intercultural competence. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 2–52). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.
Stier, J. (2006). Internationalisation, intercultural communication and intercultural competence. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 11(1), 1–12.
Summers, M., & Volet, S. (2008). Students’ attitudes towards culturally mixed groups on international campuses: impact of participation in diverse and non-diverse groups. Studies in Higher Education, 33(4), 357–370.
Thomas, A. (2011). Zukunftsperspektiven interkultureller Kompetenz [Future perspectives of intercultural competence]. In W. Dreyer & U. Hoßler (Eds.), Perspektiven interkultureller Kompetenz [Perspectives of Intercultural Competence] (pp. 395–409). Gottingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Leung, K. (2009). Methodological issues in researching intercultural competence. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 404–418). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.
Wang, Y., & Kulich, S. J. (2015). Does context count? Developing and assessing intercultural competence through an interview- and model-based domestic course design in China. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 48, 38–57. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.03.013
Zaharna, R. S. (2009). An associative approach to intercultural communication competence in the Arab world. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 179–195). Thousand Oaks, USA: SAGE.